Welcome call

The call made by chief incumbent of the Gangaramaya Temple
the Ven Galaboda Gnanissara Thera to Opposition Leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa to rebuild
and develop the country is a timely one. There can be no better
time than this for some sober thinking on the part of our
political leaders based on the need to take the country forward
after decades of turmoil and turbulence that debilitated the
country’s economy and ruined its development prospects.

Although the Ven Thera did not expressly state the point this
cooperation should be reciprocated by the Government if it is to
be sustained. One only recalls that during the Kumaratunga
administration how similar cooperation was pledged only to be
soon undermined by utterances and actions on the part of both
sides. Even the tsunami disaster was not large enough to sustain
such cooperation.

Therefore while welcoming Opposition support and cooperation
it is also incumbent on the part of the Government to
reciprocate such a gesture in a genuine way. No room should be
made by Government politicians to belittle such cooperation by
loose talk as happened in the past. Ditto for the media who
should also act with responsibility and not rock the boat but
instead foster and nurture such unity efforts.

Speaking at a ceremony attended by both President Rajapaksa
and the Opposition Leader at the Gangaramaya on Sunday morning
the podihamuduruwo told the latter to support the President’s
efforts to develop the country for at least one year. Coming as
it does from Ven Gnanissara Thera who is well connected to the
Wickremesinghe family the call cannot be but a genuine one with
the interest of the country at heart. One hopes that the UNP
leader would pay heed to this call and extend his support to the
President to take the country towards economic stability.

It has been the norm in democracies that the Opposition
cooperate with the incumbent Government at a time of crisis or
in the national interest. This happened in Britain during World
War II, a move which received the endorsement of the entire
British polity. Back at home during the 1971 insurgency then
Opposition Leader J R Jayewardene extended his support to
Premier Sirimavo Bandaranaike to crush the uprising to protect
democracy.

While it could be argued that no such crisis of these
proportions exits now in Sri Lanka with the vanquishing of
terrorism, there is nevertheless no gainsaying the need to win
the economic war which is as important as winning the war
against terrorism. It is in this context that the appeal made by
the prelate to Wickremesinghe bears relevance. For the country
to develop unhindered in this post war phase of its history
there is a need for not only peace and stability but also
cooperation from all quarters who may be in positions to extend
such cooperation unconditionally.

In this respect the UNP which had ruled the country for
nearly three decades collectively in its post independence
history and who are generally considered good administrators
could contribute valuable inputs that would redound to the
benefit of the country’s progress. What is more, such
cooperation would certainly percolate down to the rank and file
and grassroots levels of the party making it that much easier to
implement the action plans of the Government.

But the biggest plus factor of this unity effort will no
doubt be its effect in dispelling the rancorous and contentions
political culture that has taken a firm grip of the national
polity and has been the bugbear of development and progress. We
say this because it has been the practice in the past for one
party to destroy or discontinue the work started by its rival
when it comes to power after an election and the other to follow
suit when its turn arrived thus continuing the vicious cycle
putting paid to any serious development getting started.

As a result we have been languishing at square one due to the
acrimonious political culture that had been nurtured over the
years. This has to stop and it is hoped that this clarion call
by a venerable monk who wields much clout and has the ear of
both the Government and Opposition quarters would put an end to
this rancorous uncooperative political culture, so that all
segments shedding their parochial interests would rally together
to see through this development phase that would take the
country to be the Wonder of Asia.

This is not to say that we should have a moratorium on
Opposition politics. It needs no elaboration that the role of
the Opposition is vital in a mature vibrant democracy to ensure
checks and balances and keep governments in check of any
excesses. What is suggested is while constructive criticism is
offered the Opposition acts in a responsible fashion not to
hinder the path of the Government in its genuine bid to develop
and take the country forward.

Thwarting LTTE’s designs in Europe

In May 2009 having decisively defeated the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the terrorist organization
which for 30 long years held the country at gun point, the
Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has re-settled 90 percent of the
nearly 300,000 persons displaced due to the conflict, rehabilitated
and re-integrated into society almost 70 percent of the 11,696
ex-combatants who surrendered/were arrested including all 594 child
combatants and has facilitated restoration of houses and livelihoods
to most of those resettled, while ensuring education to all,
including ex-combatants who continue to remain in custody.

Dimensions of discipline and ways of punishing

In 1978, the first time Ranjan Madugalle
captained Royal at the Big Match, a sporting declaration by him
responded to by positive batting by the Thomians almost cost Royal
the match. If I remember right, S. Thomas’ had to score 44 in 8
overs with 4 wickets in hand (a piece of cake these days) but
settled for a draw. This year, another sporty declaration by Royal
was responded to as positively by the Thomians. The umpires,
unfortunately decided the light was too weak.

A man of the people

Philip had his early education at Prince of
Wales’ College Moratuwa and Ananda College Colombo under P De S
Kularatne. Even as a student, he involved himself in the political
struggle by becoming a member of the ‘Young Lanka League’ founded in
1920 by Victor Corea and A H Gunasinghe. Leaving school he had a
short spell at the University College, Colombo and then left to
America to continue his University career, whereas most young men at
this time were going to Britain.